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She Ain't Quitting

Dira Sugandi performs on the opening day of the 13th Java Jazz Festival, JIExpo, Jakarta, 3 March 2017. 

Even a prominent female jazz singer such as Dira Sugandi coiuld make a confession in front of the sitting crowd who filled up the concert hall at JIExpo Kemayoran, Jakarta, and also to the big band whom she shared the stage with, about how difficult it is here to make a living in jazz. 

"There were times when I keep telling myself I wanted to stop singing," she confided. But she is certainly not quitting that night, on the opening of the three-day Jakarta International Java Jazz Festival 2017.      

Last no least in Jazz Buzz Salihara

Imanissimo ended jazz event with noise with the final show entitled 15 in Teater Salihara

Imanissimo made a closing show of Jazz Buzz Salihara on 26 February, the same day they announced the launch of their latest album Enigma. Citing the term chaotic jazz, after a brief theatrical overture, the progressive rock band introduced one of the songs from Enigma high pitches and deafening  noise, of which they were relieved to see that right after kicking it off nobody left Teater Salihara. 

But the following song Kampretos was similarly thrown to the audience with impunity, making them nervously expect the smallest hints of jazz presence in this final show. 

Staying true to musical identity is important. But one wonders would it hurt to rearrange pieces to the audience who had expected improvisation and surprises more than the use of flute, kendang, or angklung just to be considered jazz enough? Fifteen years of experience in the niche market contributed to the generally positive reception of the show. The nearly two-hour raucous concert extended with an extra song at audience wish.       

Xylophonist takes center stage on Salihara annual jazz event

Arief Winanda (left) and members of Pamuncak Mudo at Jazz Buzz Salihara 2017

Arief Winanda, who is currently preoccupied with the development of urban art discipline in Institut Kesenian Jakarta (IKJ), has wit and, at times, cracking humor, in his show on Saturday night as part of Jazz Buzz Salihara 2017, an annual two-week event aiming at promoting alternative forms contrary of mainstream music. 

The percussionist and xylophonist not only perform for his self-satisfaction, he diligently shared the work and knowledge of each piece to the attentive audience who otherwise would not have known the history of boogey, a popular genre in the 1940s marking the wake of American depression era, or another piece that was inspired by the dynamics found in the sound of wind.

Bebas Bereksplorasi Lagi di Jazz Buzz Salihara 2017

Jazz Sans Frontieres kembali menjadi tema festival musik jazz mini Jazz Buzz Salihara 2017. Di pagelaran keenam ini, Komunitas Salihara konsisten memamerkan keunikan konsep jazz tanpa batas. Komunitas Salihara tetap mempertahankan semangat menjadikan acara ini ajang bagi musisi jazz kontemporer untuk bereksplorasi, dan untuk pasar pendengar musik tanah air di luar konvensi umum jazz Indonesia.

Freedoms Jazz Award 2016

Tesla Manaf plays his psychedelic piece in Freedoms Jazz Award 2016.

The consistency of a few people in the industry has led them to hosting a music award for the young and talented musicians whom they are so dedicated to find in this country. These people are some of the first who spotted Joey Alexander. And after hosting Freedoms Jazz Festival last year, iCanStudioLive reintroduced similar concept in August 2016, but by adding a score in holding Freedoms Jazz Award 2016 as the closing remark. They carved themselves a name among other notable recordings in current development of jazz in the country, a music genre that is still favored by a limited audience and less-indulging to the majority population, albeit a belief by a Jakarta indie band frontman that all music is genuinely pop, yet with a differing use of instruments. 

Sing and laugh it out loud in Mezzotono's a capella show

The Italian a capella group of five, Mezzotono, performed in front of the public audience they claimed to be the greatest under the concert title “The Mezzotono Show” in Ice Palace hall, Jakarta, 29 September. Indeed, the title implied an attempt to present a more than just musical concert, but combined with a rehearsed stage comical gesture. They take the laughter business seriously.

Young jazz singer lives up Indonesian ethnic songs

Diah Ayu Lestari and her band Good Guys whom together they promoted Indonesian folk songs in 2013 Tong Tong Fair in Den Haag, staged an energic live ethnic songs from Kalimantan and Sulawesi following her second album Ethnic Jazz Indonesia whose track list includes traditional songs spanning across the west to east territorial boundaries of the country. In Galeri Indonesia Kaya, 12 July, standing behind the modern interpretation of Dayak dancers with mostly quick tempo, her natural and powerful voice reintroduced traditionally familiar songs such as Ampar Pisang and O Inani Keke in delightful pop jazz arrangement. 

When Betawi meets jazz

International Jazz Day with Lantun Orchestra live in @america, Jakarta, 30 April 2015

From swing to bebop, acid, and the further rapid evolution of jazz when the western world brought it on board of the trade ships to meet Indonesian vernacular music in the 20s, Lantun Orchestra played their repertoire based on a timeline that tells about each period of the constantly-altering musical genre. Their live performance When Betawi Meets Jazz in @america, Jakarta, 30 April, started with the 1929 song Ain't Misbehavin by Fats Waller, before moving to another era of bebop which was popularized by the 30s era trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie. 

The sum of Stefano Bollani's tenacity

Stefano Bollani chose to drop all he has worked for in pop in 1196, since he first took a professional path at his teenage years, and in his solo concert at Usmar Ismail Hall, Jakarta, 28 April, the Italian pianist showed his aptitude, more of nurtured than inherent, after over 15 years of dedication in jazz. He left traces of his childhood aspiration to become a singer by singing a couple of songs in melancholy for Jakarta audience, meanwhile he was sure not to let them miss the anticipation having him played out one of his best talents: swing, especially after his last performance in Jakarta seven years ago.

The real Java jazz

Swing Boss Jazz Band plays a children song Cing Cang Keling in Jazz Tribute to Javanese Folk Songs, Jakarta.

Swing Boss Jazz Band dedicated itself since it was founded in 2014 to promote Indonesian vernacular songs in a unique arrangements combining jazz and bossa nova. Given that jazz emerges from an alternative cultural expression of folk songs developed by a particular group of immigrants in the US, the seven members of the band applies similar approach in the modern Indonesia, a diverse country where they can find abundant cultural reference for their works, such as folk songs from the eastern province of Maluku, Sulawesi, to Java. The latter became the theme of their performance in Galeri Indonesia Kaya, Jakarta, on Sunday, 16 March 2015. 

Benjamin Herman Trio and Daniel von Piekartz Live Concert

Dutch saxophonist Benjamin Herman performed in Jakarta for the first time on 5 March 2015, in Erasmus Huis. Described as a loose, witty, and vigorous player, the free-jazz style Benjamin was one of the most productive jazz players in the Netherlands, having made a dozen solo albums and over a hundred records with all kinds of artists. Last night he played with his trio band, bringing the bassist Ernst Glerum and drummer Joost Patocka. 

Michael Buble Asian Tour 2015

After China, Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia, Michael Buble stopped by in Indonesia as part of the Asian tour from January to February 2015. The multiple Grammy Award winner is slated to continue touring to the Phillipines, South Korea, and Japan. Noted as his first visit to Indonesia, and the first international star concert held in the newly built Indonesia Convention and Exhibition, BSD City, Tangerang, Michael expressed his enthusiasm taking on the Asian tour, and withdrew behind the curtain with a promise to his fans that this will not be the last. 

Indonesia Creative Week

Coinciding with Indonesia Creative Week in December 2012, music concert at the Epicentrum Walk presented Leonardo and the jazz band, complete with brass intruments.

Francesco Cafiso "Island Blue" Quartet

Francesco Cafiso, Dino Rubino, Giovanni Mazzarino and Giuseppe Bassi have deep roots in the jazz tradition but look at the future for a newer and original sound. Their aim is to create a 360 degree wide music, ranging from blues to modern jazz; they arrange all the songs in a personal way and convey a music that can move the audience, even the less competent, mainly drawing on Francesco’s original compositions. 

Benny Lackner Trio

Goethe Haus Jakarta’s regular agenda of setting up international jazz musicians under the now familiar event Serambi Jazz continued to please the audience whom mostly long for an experimental type of music out of the industrialized music on the market. The play on Thursday, 16 October, not only showing the fresh compositions made by each side, the European represented by Benny Lacker and the band, the French Karim, and the Indonesian guitarist who had appeared several times in Goethe Haus, Johanes Radianto, but they also brought a mixture of songs in their list from different places of origin. 

Actis Dato Quartet

Groups of musician insert a few elements of surprise in their shows to entice the increasingly discerning audience. They offer something different, but anticipated. Surely no one can’t blame them for trying. Playing on the stage with a dark backdrop and under dimmed fixated lightings in Usmar Ismail Hall, Jakarta, Tuesday night, one would forgo the thought of visual spectacle that night and expect the most in auditory treats from evolving jazz of Italia and Middle East.

Kai Bruckner and Riza Arshad Project

The concert by musicians of two continents in Goethe Haus last year was worth-remembering.

Jazz is not for the faint-hearted, especially those who make a living out of it in Indonesia. Unlike any other places, jazz is more than just a choice for Indonesia’s aspiring musicians. It is a conviction that fortunately has gained appreciation over time by the public. Everything is so specific and segmented when it comes to jazz. Just like when the word public is mentioned, meaning a very specific audience who generally reside in the city, are fond of western culture and history, continuously repositioned themselves in this ever globalized world society.